(11th in a series on Education)
Gadfly still wrapping his wings around charter schools.
Approximately 2100 BASD students attend charter schools, about 13% of the total student population. Charter schools cost Bethlehem taxpayers 29 million in charter tuition this year, which is roughly 10% of the budget.
Where do they go? And then the next question is why do they go?
They go to the following 12 charter schools, only 3 of which have Bethlehem addresses. 5 have Allentown addresses, and 1 each to Catasauqua, Fogelsville, Emmaus, and Easton.
Charter schools are about choice.
So why do they go? Gadfly wonders if there are any surveys that shed light on this question.
(Another interesting statistic would be what is the percentage of BASD students to the total enrollment in each of the charter schools.)
We have profiled in previous posts 2 of the 3 charter schools with Bethlehem addresses. Gadfly who has two granddaughter “performers” who went to a public school in Massachusetts that excelled in the Arts can understand the attraction of our Charter Arts. And to Gadfly the appeal of the Dual Language school is also quite understandable.
Here are the 12 charter schools in descending order of the 2100 BASD students attending. Let’s spend some time browsing through – especially the “top” schools – to try to sense what the draw is.
Almost 50% go to one school — what’s up with that?
1038
Lehigh Valley Academy Charter School
1560 Valley Center Pkwy #200, Bethlehem, PA 18017
http://www.lvacademy.org/
246
Executive Education Academy Charter School
555 Union Blvd, Allentown, PA 18109
https://www.ee-schools.org/
183
Lehigh Valley Dual Language Charter School
675 E Broad St, Bethlehem, PA 18018
https://www.lvdlcs.org/
165
Lincoln Leadership Academy Charter School
1414 E Cedar St, Allentown, PA 18109
https://www.llacslv.org/
94
The Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts
321 E 3rd St, Bethlehem, PA 18015
https://www.charterarts.org/
55
The Arts Academy Charter School
1610 E Emmaus Avenue, Allentown, PA 18103
http://www.arts-cs.org/
25
Innovative Arts Academy Charter School
330 Howertown Rd, Catasauqua, PA 18032
https://iaacslv.net/
23
Arts Academy Elementary Charter School
601 Union St, Allentown, PA 18101
https://www.artsacademyelementary.com/
19
Easton Arts Academy Elementary Charter School
30 N 4th St, Easton, PA 18042
https://www.easton-arts-charter-school.com/
17
Seven Generations Charter School
154 Minor St, Emmaus, PA 18049
https://sevengenerationsschool.org/
15
Circle of Seasons Charter School
8380 Mohr Ln, Fogelsville, PA 18051
https://www.circleofseasons.org/
2 Roberto Clemente CS
136 S 4th St # 1, Allentown, PA 18102
http://www.myrccs.com/en/
Like Gadfly, this is probably the first time realizing the local “universe” of charter schools. What are you thinking?
